University of Colorado officials have defended an arrangement that retains retiree Ric Porreca as the Boulder campus chief financial officer -- saying he is a vital administrator -- but CU system officials called for his firing in 2006 after the discovery of a deep budget shortfall in the athletic department.

Still, over the next three years leading up to his retirement, Porreca's salary increased 43 percent, from $228,416 to $327,110, according to a document that outlines the 100 top-paid CU-Boulder employees.

In the document, prepared for the regents at the request of Jim Geddes, R-Sedalia, a note shows that Porreca was given $36,000 a year in additional pay from 2007 to 2009. Explanations for his increasing pay included "merit," "additional job" and "retention."

CU-Boulder's top 100-paid employees

The Camera has learned that Porreca, 53 -- who will be phased out of his job as senior vice chancellor and chief financial officer by July 1 -- was at risk of losing his job six years ago after then-CU President Hank Brown discovered an $8 million shortfall in the athletic department that went unreported to the Board of Regents.

Fiscal woes in athletic department

Brown, in an interview, said former CU Chancellor Bud Peterson and then-Provost Phil DiStefano came to the defense of Porreca in 2006.

"His immediate supervisors wanted to keep Ric and thought highly of him," Brown said Thursday. "I had expressed to Bud a great concern, but ultimately it was Bud's decision. I offered some advice to Bud, without making it a directive. Bud made his own decision, but I expressed my view."

The issue to dismiss Porreca was elevated to the Board of Regents during an executive session, but there wasn't a clear majority on the board to fire the chief financial officer, according to a source with knowledge of the conversation.

Brown said the $8 million shortfall in the athletic department had not previously been reported to the regents, and when he discovered it, he immediately reported it to the board.

"The issue was not just the shortfall, but that the board had not been acquainted with the problem," Brown said.

CU regents and campus officials in 2006 decided to loan the Boulder campus athletic department $8 million to help it recover from a major drop in football season-ticket sales, a coaching change after Gary Barnett was fired, stadium expansion costs and overstated fundraising projections.

Campus spokesman Bronson Hilliard declined to comment specifically on the 2006 discussion regarding Porreca's employment, but he said in general former Chancellor Peterson thought highly of Porreca and felt he needed his expertise.

Peterson and Brown worked out an agreement that clearly defined the chancellor's ability to handle matters on the Boulder campus, including personnel matters.

"There were a couple of times when Chancellor Peterson had to assert that," Hilliard said.

Porreca's pay increases leading up to retirement

Leading up to his retirement on Feb. 28, 2011, Porreca earned three separate $36,000 increases, according to the salary document given to the regents. The amount added to his salary appears to have been slightly less than that, or almost $99,000 over three years instead of $108,000, according to the report.

He returned to his post April 1, 2011, filling one of CU's 10 allotted positions that allow PERA retirees to work up to 140 days a year.

Porreca, who began with the university in 1982, is eligible to earn roughly $500,000 in combined CU salary and pension payments through PERA, Colorado's Public Employees' Retirement Association. PERA payments are determined by several factors, including the average of a retiree's highest three salaries, his or her age and years of employment.

PERA payments are private, but an eligibility chart shows Porreca will earn at least 68.2 percent of his highest average salary -- calculated over three years -- for the rest of his life.

Campus spokesman Hilliard denies that Porreca was given raises to increase his PERA payouts.

"We give raises at CU because of increased responsibilities, new management duties or merit," Hilliard said.

In some cases, Hilliard said, the university gives raises to retain employees if they have an offer in hand from another potential employer.

"Ric has been highly courted and sought-after in his role as CFO," Hilliard said.

Hilliard said Porreca has taken on additional responsibilities, for example, overseeing the Office of Admissions and the Office of Information Technology, as well as financial aid and registrar offices.

The university wanted to retain Porreca from his retirement to assist with the school's re-accreditation process in 2010, Hilliard said.

Local duo joining overseas exhibition excursionFilippo Swartz went to Italy, where his mother was born and he spent the first year or so of his life, every summer until he had to stick around to be a part of summer football activities for the Longmont High School team. Full Story

MacIntyre says the completed project will be best in Pac-12There were bulldozers, hard hats, mud, concrete trucks, blueprints, mud, cranes, lots of noise and, uh, mud, during the last recruiting cycle when Colorado football coach Mike MacIntyre brought recruits to campus. Full Story

Most people don't play guitar like Grayson Erhard does. That's because most people can't play guitar like he does. The guitarist for Fort Collins' Aspen Hourglass often uses a difficult two-hands-on-the-fretboard technique that Eddie Van Halen first popularized but which players such as Erhard have developed beyond pop-rock vulgarity.
Full Story